There Are Two Types of People Who Go Camping
by sanctum-c
Summary: Avalanche go shopping for camping equipment in Kalm, but Aeris doesn't quite understand why this induces such dread in her companions.


To Aeris's surprise Tifa shivered as the group left the inn to procure camping equipment. They'd been able to walk from Midgar to Kalm in under a day, and though they'd run into one or two monsters intent on attacking them, the group had coped without any real problems. However, after they left Kalm it would be likely more than two weeks until Junon though but Barret had mentioned something about a Chocobo ranch a few days away that they might be able to replenish supplies at. Either way, they definitely needed to prepare for sleeping outdoors, though at the mention of camping, an odd looked formed on both Tifa and Barret's faces. Aeris was decidedly unclear on exactly what was inducing the strange vibe she now picked up from her companions when they learned they were going to need at least a tent and sleeping bags in their continued pursuit of Sephiroth.

Tifa caught the flower girl's questioning eye as they walked through the bustling town and offered a weak smile in reply. "I never thought we'd be doing this... I've been a mountain trail guide, bartender, eco-warrior, but never, ever thought I'd actually go camping."

Aeris tilted her head in confusion. "Do you not like camping? I thought some people did it for fun."

"Oh they do," Tifa replied. "It's just barbaric and cruel. And it feels like you need a death-wish to try it. It's the enthusiasts I'm really not looking forward to dealing with."

"Enthusiasts?" The flower girl looked bewildered. The martial artist sighed.

"You know the basic gist of camping, right?"

The Cetra nodded. "You hike around the wilderness, find somewhere to pitch a tent and sleep until morning, repeat. I thought all kinds of people did it."

"They do. Well, they used to. See, that's quite an archaic version of camping. I don't think anyone's really gone in for that for about fifty years now. Right about when the monster problem started getting really bad. Newer style camping is a little different. It's- well, you'll see." She sighed. "Wish I'd stayed with Red."

Red XIII had swiftly volunteered to stay out of sight in the inn, hoping to reduce the attention the group would attract while in Kalm. Still unsure of what was going on, Aeris walked alongside Tifa as they trailed after Cloud and Barret. To her distinct surprise, there were two very different camping shops situated right beside each other in the town. And they couldn't be more different.

"Um, Tifa? Why are there two shops?"

Tifa had clenched her teeth and now replied with effort. "Different 'philosophies', is the best way I can put it."

Aeris looked at both shops again trying to make sense of the comment. The one on the left had a wooden front, neatly arranged ranks of equipment with prices indicated by small, neat stickers on everything. The shop looked warmly lit and quiet. By direct contrast through the open door of the right-hand shop she could hear an incessant electronic beat and muffled shouts of excitement. The front of this shop was emblazoned with neon colours, exciting writing, exclamation marks and images of people camping. These seemed to consist of a teen boy and a teen girl looking eagerly from a tent flap as a gigantic snake-like creature reared up behind two other teen boys who appeared to be fleeing from it. Oddly they didn't look frightened in the slightest, in fact they seemed to be rather enjoying it.

Aeris frowned. The image of two people in the tent at least fit with her expectations of camping. The running away from a monster and seemingly thrilled in the circumstances did not. "So which one do we go in?" she asked. Tifa regarded both with suspicion.

"We should be able to get everything from one or both, but we're not exactly flush with money so we might need to compare," she said, gaze flicking from one to the other.

"Alright," Cloud said. "Barret and I'll go in this one," he gestured to the left hand shop. "Aeris and Tifa go in that one. We know what we're looking for so we'll regroup here in about ten minutes." He vanished into his indicated shop, trailed by a slightly less than enthused Barret who nodded wearily to the martial artist.

Aeris spared a glance to Tifa who seemed about to call out to her friends before pausing and letting out a sigh. With a roll of her eyes she muttered, "Okay, let's get this over with..."

"-and the hapless dude like doesn't know you're not meant to actually go into the swamp." The speaker convulsed with laughter for a few moments, before miming in time to his story. "So he's trying to run back out, though it's more like wade back out, an' I'm yelling at him to hurry up. Then everything goes to shit; a Zolom spots him. And I'm there thinking 'Shit. He is toast.' And he doesn't even react when it starts charging, he just slogs his way through the mud like everything's a-okay. And now I'm seriously contemplating just trying to shoot it, but ya all know what a rifle does to that fucker and just as I'm thinking I could try for it's eye or something, the very next thing I know it's striking for him."

The speaker's tone took on a more serious tone as he continued. "So he can barely move, has no clue it's coming, the Zolom's head is just zipping down on him; the dude is fucking dead. So I'm there trying to figure out what to tell his family when of all the things that could happen, the dude stands on a rock. And he's been putting so much effort into moving that he's stepping down hard, and the next thing I see is he's pushed himself clear of the water and up into the air. But the Zolom is still going for him; he's bought himself, what, five seconds? But this guy is like the luckiest guy in the world; the Zolom misses him." Levity was beginning to enter his voice again.

"Then, and I still can't believe it - if I hadn't seen it, I'd never think it could be done - he's landed on it's head. And he must be stoned or something as he's not even a little freaked; dude just plants his feet and starts surfing the fucker."

The group of three males at the back of the store erupted into laughter and disbelief with that. The speaker, increasingly animated now assumed a stance which Aeris suspected was indicative of 'surfing the fucker'. The story-teller continued as she kept out half an ear, while Tifa seemed determined to keep as many racks of equipment between her and the counter. The flower girl looked around the shop unsure of the interior. Everything in the shop seemed to be neon coloured; there was no pretence of stealth, or blending into an environment with any of the products on display. Well, unless they were hiding in the sun or something. The flower girl looked dubiously at the vast array equipment; tents, sleeping bags, back-packs, utensils. Did all the cooking-ware have to be neon as well? And was everything really quite so expensive? And what those about these books? All lurid covers with the words 'Extreme' and 'Death' proudly emblazoned on the covers.

Aeris realised with a start that the story she'd heard when she came in wasn't being resumed and risked a sidelong glance to the counter. Three pairs of eyes regarded her and Tifa with unnerving interest. Just about audible over the pulsing beat of the music she managed to discern words like 'hot', 'chick', 'babe', 'frumpy', 'wannabe', 'fake' and 'tourist'. She pretended not to hear any of it, remaining calm, but slowly sidling over towards the more nervous looking Tifa.

A few crass comments floated behind her, unpleasantness relating to both her and her friend. "I'm not sure we can afford any of this," Aeris remarked voice calm as she stood beside Tifa feigning interest in whatever was in front of her. "Plus we'll stand out a mile if we actually use any of this."

"Well, duh, newbie; that's the idea! You girls actually tried camping or are ya just trying to impress your boyfriends?" The voice called from behind her was accompanied by unpleasant laughter. Aeris refused to acknowledge any of it, instead looking at whatever Tifa was pretending to look at. Upon closer inspection it was a wide-display of materia with a exploding star-shaped sign taped to the front with the legend 'Monster-lure Materia!'

Aeris wondered vaguely when or how often Tifa had run into this kind of group to know that camping was a popular and apparently gleefully hazardous past-time, enjoyed by jerky show-offs. Either way, the half-whispers and comments made by the shop's current inhabitants seemed to be bordering uncomfortably close to some of the gutter-talk she'd heard while they'd been in Wall Market; both before and after she'd gotten dressed up.

She glanced at her watch. They were still far too early, but between the discomforting stares, the remarks and the inflated prices, Aeris did not reckon any of their supplies should come from this store; both from a cost perspective and out of principle to the owner's attitude. She took her friend's hand and tugged her along as she walked out the door, prompting another wave of crass assumptions from those inside. Outside and away from the jeers Tifa heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. Any longer and I would have wanted to punch them. Not a great idea in a small town like this."

Aeris smiled. "Well, I very much doubt I would have wanted to stop you. I don't think we want to buy anything from those people anyway." She glanced over her shoulder. "Want to at least risk the other shop?"

Tifa paused a moment and then nodded. Keeping their fingers laced, Aeris lead her friend into the neighbouring store, and away from the neon colours. The difference between the establishments was dramatic. Everything here was in green or earthen tones; the tents seemingly designed to try and blend into the landscape as much as possible. All the equipment seemed to be camouflaged or dull-coloured, and here books seemed to offer practical tips. Good sites to make camp, how to ward off monster attacks, how to track monsters, how to gut and mount trophies. Wait. The flower girl frowned at the last one. That seemed somewhat out of place. Or perhaps not; there were stuffed monster heads on the walls, staring down at her with glassy, vacant expressions. One entire wall of the store was taken up with a huge display of fire-arms and skinning knives, making the inclusion of that book somewhat more explicable.

The two friends sidled up to Barret and joined him in watching as Cloud wearily tried to brush aside advice on what gun would damage trophies least and that his sword was going to mess up anything he did manage to down like that. He turned to offer a despairing look noticing then that all his were companions present. He raised a questioning eyebrow and Aeris quickly mouthed 'Buy here' to him. Turning back to the shopkeeper, Cloud rapidly dismissed the offered hunter paraphernalia in favour of the essentials; two tents, five sleeping bags, cooking supplies and bags in which to carry it all.

Wandering back through the streets with her share of she shopping in each hand, Aeris wondered how the idea of camping as a necessity for travel, or as a diverting past-time had somehow become the activity that those two shops implied. Maybe even here outside of Midgar, straying beyond the limits of your town was a rare thing; only the reckless and the hunters risking the open country beyond.

* * *

**A/N:** I have no problems with extreme sports so please don't construe this as an attack on the past-time. The idea came from the offhand idea that going camping in the _Final Fantasy VII_ world (or indeed any _Final Fantasy_ world) is kind of insane as you face the constant threat of monster attacks. Who would even want to go camping in those circumstances? Well, hunters naturally. And I got taken with taking something mundane like camping and turning it into a death-defying sport.


End file.
